Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell reacts to fans before their game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. / Tom Szczerbowski, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

TORONTO -- Even a dream job comes with its potential nightmare moments.

John Farrell made sure to tip his cap to booing Toronto fans after exchanging lineup cards before his first game back in Toronto as manager of the Boston Red Sox but that didn't stop booing at every opportunity from the near-capacity Rogers Centre crowd of 45,328.

Former Blue Jays manager Farrell and his successor, John Gibbons, shared a laugh during the pre-game home plate meeting, the first opportunity for the fans to let loose.

Farrell was booed again when he went onto the field in the second inning, to check on shortstop Jose Iglesias after he was hit with a pitch, and when he made a pitching change in the sixth. Several times, they broke into sing-song "Far-rell" chants.

And a significant number even booed a visit to the mound â?? though it was actually pitching coach Juan Nieves and not Farrell.

Many Toronto fans still resent that Farrell wanted to leave with a year remaining on his contract because he felt managing the Red Sox was, as he called it, his dream job. The Blue Jays and Red Sox worked out a trade that allowed Farrell to make the move.

"I can fully understand the sentiment, the questions and what might transpire here tonight," Farrell said before the game

He was asked by Mike Wilner, a member of the Blue Jays broadcast crew, what he thought might happen.

"Mike, all the things you've reported and encouraged, I'm sure there will be some boos tonight," Farrell said.

Wilner told Farrell he thought the implication was unfair that fans were being encouraged to react.

Despite the fans' venom, the underlying sentiment on both sides of the field is that both teams are better off the way events occurred.

"We respect John and his decision to pursue his dream job, if that's what he called it," said Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista, who sat out the game with a sore ankle. "We have a manager who wants to be here. We want people who want to be here. The opportunity came and he wanted to go there. I don't blame him. That's what he wanted. We wouldn't want him to be here and wish he was there."

Toronto players say they hold no resentment and saw the pre-game hype as more of a fan and media event.

"If you polled 100 people and said they could have their dream job, they'd take it," said catcher J.P. Arencibia. "So, that's his dream job, that's where his heart was. That's what he did. I understand.

It's not the Blue Jays against Farrell."

Farrell said he was hardly surprised by the attention.

"That, to me, shows there's a lot of passion," he said. "I certainly respect all the changes that have gone on this offseason with the Blue Jays. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It's good to be back."

And, as Adam Lind of the Blue Jays said, "Everybody's happier now. Everybody's where they should be."